Frequently Asked Questions

Help/Support

1. Who should I contact if I need help?

If you have questions regarding the On-line System or the program to which you are applying (e.g., content of application, program deadlines, eligibility, etc.), contact the Helpdesk by telephone at (613) 995-4273 or by e-mail at webapp@nserc.ca.

Leaving a detailed message with your name, area code, telephone number, your question, and the program related to your enquiry will enable the Helpdesk to answer your questions promptly.

2. When is support available?

The Helpdesk is open between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. five days a week. During peak periods (e.g., normally six weeks prior to a major program deadline), the Helpdesk offers extended hours.

3. When can I expect maintenance and upgrades to the system?

Maintenance and upgrades are scheduled to take place Monday to Friday between 9:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m., and on Saturdays between 8:00 a.m. and noon, if necessary. Unless otherwise specified, the On-line System remains available during regular maintenance and upgrades.

Registration and Login

4. What is the difference between my Account name (User ID) and my Personal Identification Number (PIN)?

Account name (User ID)

The Account name (User ID) is a confidential identifier that gives you access to the On-line System. Your Account name can be changed and validated anytime. The security system is designed to allow you to use the same account name, even if you hold more than one role (e.g., applicant and reviewer).

Personal Identification Number (PIN)

Your PIN uniquely identifies you in NSERC’s corporate database. Your PIN is used as a reference number by NSERC to quickly refer to your file. If you don’t have a PIN, leave that space blank on the form and we will assign this number to you when we receive your application.

5. How do I create my own Account name (User ID) and Password?

Your Account name may be up to 30 alphanumeric characters. It must begin with a letter and should not contain any spaces. Do not use any special characters such as ! @ # or $, except the underscore (_).

Your Password must be at least eight, but not more than 10, characters. It may contain numbers, but should not contain any spaces. You must use at least one special character ( ! @ # $ % ^ & * ( ) + = { } | < > \ _ - [ ] / ? ). Your Password is case-sensitive.

We recommend that your Password consists of both letters and numbers so that other users cannot easily guess it. The system will prompt you to change your Password every 90 days for security reasons. Re-use of a password will not be permitted.

6. How do I re-activate my Account name (User ID) and Password?

If you attempt to login to the system using an incorrect Account name (User ID) or Password, your session will be terminated for security reasons after three attempts. You must then contact the Helpdesk at telephone number (613) 995-4273 or by e-mail at webapp@nserc.ca to have your Account name and Password re-activated.

7. May I use my Account name (User ID) and Password for other purposes?

Your Account name (User ID) and Password must be used only for the purposes of logging in to NSERC’s On-line System.

My Portfolio Page

8. How do I create a Personal Data Form or another form?

Once you have successfully logged in to the system, you will be transferred to the My Portfolio page. A Personal Data Form will be created for you automatically once you register. Select Edit Personal Data Form to complete the form. In addition, you may create a blank form by selecting Create New Application to apply for one of the programs listed. Once your form has been created, you may select Edit to access applications that are in-progress.

9. How do I create multiple Personal Data Forms or other forms?

Participants (applicant/principal investigator, co-applicants and collaborators) should complete – or update – their own Personal Data Form. You can only create/maintain one Personal Data Form per User ID in our system to ensure that your record is kept up to date.

You (applicant/principal investigator) can create multiple applications under your own name.

Navigation

10. How do I change the language of my forms?

The language of your forms will initially be determined when you select either French or English in the Correspondence field on the Registration page. To change the form's language after you have passed the Registration page, follow these instructions:

• On the My Profile page, you may use the Form Language field to select a different language.

11. My form is in French. Why do the buttons on my pop-up window say OK and Cancel, and not OK and Annuler?

Unfortunately, we have no control over the language of the buttons in the pop-up windows. The text in the title bar and on the buttons are determined by your Web browser (i.e., if you've downloaded the French version of Netscape, the text will appear in French; otherwise, the text will appear in English).

12. Is my data automatically saved when I change screens?

You will be prompted to save your data before you exit a screen or if you select another screen. After 60 minutes from the last interaction with our system (e.g., Save, Preview, etc. – entering data or selecting List... is not considered as interaction), your session will be terminated and you will have to log in again. We recommend you save periodically (i.e., every 10 to 15 minutes).

13. Can I use my Web browser's menu to navigate?

You should avoid using the navigation tools (Back/Forward buttons and the Refresh/Reload Screen buttons) provided with your Web browser. If you do use these buttons, you risk losing any unsaved information.

14. How do I know which fields are mandatory?

Mandatory text boxes are marked by boldfaced labels. The mandatory designation is to indicate the minimal requirements for your application to be reviewed. If you forget to complete any of the mandatory fields, you will be prompted to complete them when you use the Verify Completeness option of your Personal Data Form, or an application, on the My Portfolio page.

15. Can I "cut and paste" information to complete text boxes?

You have the option of typing the information directly into the space or pasting text from your own word processor.

16. Can I include special characters in my form?

Remember that you can only type regular text (upper and lower cases). The system will not accept underlined text, bold or italics, script or formulas, curved or slanted apostrophes, double quotation marks or long dashes. This is a limitation of HTML, the language used by the Web browser.

Macintosh system users can eliminate the non-ASCII characters that seem to be a source of problems by exporting a text file (generated in Word, or some other program) to BBEdit, and using the "Zap Gremlins" option.

Printing

17. How do I print my form?

To print and view the application form itself, you will need Adobe Acrobat. If you are not using a computer with network access or do not have Acrobat Reader installed, you may download it (minimum 8.6 MB) free of charge from http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html. If you have Acrobat version 3.x you must first remove it.

1. To uninstall Adobe Acrobat 3.x, select Start at the bottom left hand of your screen.
2. Select Settings.
3. Select Control Panel.
4. At the top of Control Panel, select Add/Remove Programs.
5. You will see a white box with all your programs, select Adobe Acrobat 3.x, then select Add/Delete or Change/Remove.
6. Select Ok and close all windows.

To install Adobe Acrobat Reader, follow the instructions on the Adobe site.

To print your form, you can either select Preview located at the top or bottom of each screen or you can go back to the My Portfolio page. Select the form/document that you wish to print and select Preview. This will launch your Adobe Acrobat Reader and transfer the information you have entered in the form. You may then print the application using the Print command in the file toolbar.

To print on 8 ½" x 11" paper, select the Fit to page option on the printing window to be sure that the text will print within the page margins.

You may print your form at any time while you are still working on it. Once the application process is complete, you can verify that the required information has been entered by selecting Verify Completeness on the My Portfolio page. Forms that have been verified and that are complete will show Verified at the bottom of the first page when printed.

18. I'm having printer problems. What can I do?

Not all printers can easily print forms. If you can't print your form, or only parts of the form are printing, save your application form (PDF file) on a diskette and print it using a high-capacity, high-speed printer at a local institution (library, university, etc.).

Note: If you get the "Error 404" message while trying to print your form, wait five to 10 seconds and try again. Select Back located on the tool bar of your Web browser, then select Continue Previewing again. If the problem persists, the print server could be experiencing problems. Please contact the Helpdesk at (613) 995-4273.

19. When I select Preview, my screen is blank. What do I do?

We have identified a problem with Netscape and Internet Explorer. When you select Continue Printing to proceed with the printing of your application, the browsers indicate "Document done," but the screen remains blank. There are two solutions:

If you have Adobe Acrobat Reader 4.x, proceed as follows:

1. Open Adobe Acrobat Reader 4.x.
2. Select the File menu option.
3. Select Preferences.
4. Select General.
5. In the displayed window called "General Preferences," de-select (un-check) the check box "Web Browser Integration" and then select OK.
6. Exit Adobe Acrobat Reader.
7. Re-boot your computer.

OR

If you have Adobe Acrobat Reader 5.x, proceed as follows:

1. Open Adobe Acrobat Reader 5.x.
2. Select the Edit menu option.
3. Select Preferences.
4. Select Options.
5. In the displayed window called "Options," de-select (un-check) the "Display PDF in Browser" and then select OK.
6. Exit Adobe Acrobat Reader.
7. Re-boot your computer.

20. How do I save my form (PDF version) on my system?

You may save the PDF version of your form from Adobe Acrobat. Refer to the Web browser specific instructions for further details, contact your local institutional technical support or the Helpdesk for assistance by telephone at (613) 995-4273 or by e-mail at webapp@nserc.ca.

Note: Remember that you may not edit your application in this format.

Other Technical Issues

21. What browsers and operating systems are supported by NSERC’s On-line System?

Answer:

We have optimized our System to work with browsers and operating systems that the majority of our clients use. They are as follows:

Note that we have identified several problems with Internet Explorer 5.5 and do not recommend this version for our Web forms.

22. I have a Macintosh and I'm having problems with Internet Explorer 4.x. What do I do?

We have identified problems with Internet Explorer 4.x using Macintosh systems. Fixes have been tested for most issues, and we are still working on outstanding ones. You can download Internet Explorer (version 5) free of charge from the Internet.

23. I completed a French form and the characters look unusual. What do I do?

If you are typing French characters and they look unusual (using Windows), you should use the Roman-ISO character set.

24. I selected an entry using List... button and I can't see the complete text. What do I do?

After selecting an entry using the List... button the text will pop into the box. Due to field length limitations, you may not see the complete entry until you've saved the information on the screen and printed it. Select the Preview option and print the PDF version to make certain that the selection is correct.

25. I selected the List... button and the pop-up window doesn’t appear. What do I do?

You most likely have a pop-up blocker installed on your computer system. These pop-up blockers are designed to get rid of commercial pop-up windows, now popular with Internet marketing companies.

Applicants who have pop-up blockers on their system are not able to activate the List…. function, nor read some of the error messages.

All pop-up blocker software have a disable feature. The most popular pop-up blockers allow you to temporarily disable the pop-up blocker feature by holding down the control key and then selecting the List… button.

Alternatively, in order to ensure that pop-up windows from NSERC’s On-line System are never suppressed, users may choose to set their pop-up blocker to always allow pop-ups from the site (ebiz.nserc.ca). Please see your pop-up blocker's help section for more information, or contact your local IT support representative for assistance.

26. What happens when I select Verify or Verify Completeness?

When you select Verify, the system ensures that all mandatory sections and fields on the selected form have been completed. The system will then generate a Verification Report which lists the information to be provided or corrected before your form is considered complete.

27. What should I do if I have difficulty attaching and/or converting documents?

PDF Formats
Attachment times for non-PDF file formats may vary depending on the current system loads. As such, attaching a document that has already been converted into a PDF format will accelerate the file attachment process.

Given the advantages, including reduction of load on the system, you may wish to convert documents into a PDF format before submission. There are many conversion tools available on the Internet free of charge. Also, some newer word processing software can convert your documents directly into a PDF format.

Password-Protected
Documents that have been password-protected cannot be read and, therefore, cannot be converted. Do not password-protect documents you plan to submit electronically.

Viruses
All documents are scanned by our firewall. Those suspected of containing a virus (some form of executable code) will not be accepted and, therefore, not converted. Run a virus scan on documents prior to attaching them. Clean any document found to contain a virus before attempting to attach the document. Any attachment having an ".exe" file extension (e.g., FileName.exe) must be removed.

End Notes
Including end notes in your Microsoft Word documents can cause the conversion process to fail. Try uploading a Word document that does not contain end notes.

Macros
Documents containing macros will cause the conversion process to fail. Macros cannot be used.

Images
Documents with images will cause the conversion process to stall and/or fail. Images must be placed inside a text box. First use the text box tool to add a text box to your document:

• Using a PC
1. In Word or WordPerfect, select Text Box from the Insert menu. A large box will appear on the page.
2. Stretch the box enough to accommodate the picture or image.
3. Copy your drawing and paste it into the box.
4. Save your document.


• Using a MAC
1. In Word or WordPerfect, select Text Box from the Insert menu.
2. Using the mouse, hold the mouse button down and drag the cursor across the screen to adjust the text box width. A box will appear on the page as you drag the cursor across the screen.
3. Copy your drawing and paste it into the box.
4. Save your document.

Bookmarks
Documents that use bookmarks will result in a conversion and/or preview failure. Bookmarks must not be used.

Hyperlinks
Documents with hyperlinks will cause a preview failure and should not be used. Hyperlinks are not accessible through a PDF document. If a hyperlink is critical, then it must first be placed in a text box. Please refer to the text box instructions found in the Images section above.

Form-fillable PDF

28. Can I save my data using a form-fillable PDF?

No. Some versions of Adobe Acrobat will let you save to a directory. But once you've closed your document, your data is lost. You cannot save a form-fillable PDF file and re-open it.

29. Can you give some tips on how to fill out a form-fillable PDF?

Print a blank copy of the form and complete a draft using a pen or pencil. When your draft is done, copy the information onto the form-fillable PDF using Adobe Acrobat. Then proofread it carefully. Your data will print only when you exit the field you've just completed. When you are certain there are no mistakes, print a copy and go to the next page.

30. I'm having problems opening my form-fillable PDF using Internet Explorer. What do I do?

Note to Internet Explorer and Netscape users: If you are having problems opening the form-fillable PDF using Adobe Acrobat Reader version 4.0 or 5.0, proceed as follows:

If you have Adobe Acrobat Reader 4.x, proceed as follows:

1. Open Adobe Acrobat Reader 4.x
2. Select File from the menu.
3. Select Preferences.
4. Select General.
5. In the displayed window called "General Preferences," de-select (un-check) the check box "Web Browser Integration" and then select OK.
6. Exit Adobe Acrobat Reader.
7. Re-boot your computer.

OR

If you have Adobe Acrobat Reader 5.x, proceed as follows:

1. Open Adobe Acrobat Reader 5.x.
2. Select Edit from the menu.
3. Select Preferences.
4. Select Options.
5. In the displayed window called "Options," de-select (un-check) the "Display PDF in Browser" and then select OK.
6. Exit Adobe Acrobat Reader.
7. Re-boot your computer.

Status Definitions

31. What is the definition of each message to identify the status of the electronic submission of my application ?